After watching the Nebraska Cornhuskers all season long, their Big 12 Conference tournament semifinal loss to Texas A&M was difficult to watch.
It wasn’t the Nebraska team that was 30-0 and league regular season champions. It wasn’t the team that could stay composed during the most adverse moments of the game. It was a team that got outhustled and outplayed.
With 7:45 left to play in the second half Cory Montgomery squared up beyond the 3-point line and put up a shot.
The basket was good and as the ball made it’s way through the net almost every Nebraska fan stood on his or her feet and cheered.
For much of Friday’s 63-46 victory over Kansas State in the second round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, the Nebraska women’s basketball team appeared to finally feel the pressure of its undefeated record and No. 1 tournament seed.
Two minutes into the second half of its quarterfinal game Thursday, it seemed the clock had finally struck midnight for Nebraska. The Cornhuskers’ Cinderella Big 12 Conference Tournament run seemed all but over when No. 23 Texas A&M scored seven straight points to take a 16-point lead. But Nebraska had one last surprise left up its sleeve. The Huskers managed to fight back and trimmed A&M’s lead to 54-53 with 4:24 left in the game.
Last season, Nebraska women’s gymnast Lora Evenstad didn’t like the music accompanying her floor routine. After changing to a different piece over the offseason, Evenstad is performing better than ever. She scored a 9.925 last weekend in Utah, the fifth meet in a row where she earned a 9.9 or better. “She just feels confident out there -- she is performing and not just doing,” coach Dan Kendig said. “I think this year she’s got a piece of music she really enjoys.”
Julie Brechtel might be the most hardheaded second baseman in the country. In the season-opening Hotel Encanto Invitational in New Mexico, the junior second baseman suffered concussion-like symptoms after slamming her head into the dirt while trying to break up a double play. Undeterred, she returned to action the next weekend in Auburn, Ala., only to be sidelined after being plunked by a pitch in the head. Just a week later in Columbus, Ga., she was hit in the head again and forced to miss time. “What are the chances?” Cornhusker coach Rhonda Revelle said.
Even with the National Indoor Championships not scheduled to start until Friday, the Nebraska track and field team already has one nationally recognized winner this week – head coach Gary Pepin. On Tuesday the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Pepin the Midwest Regional Women’s Indoor Head Coach of the Year. The award isn’t Pepin’s first, however. Just last year Pepin was named the Midwest Regional Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year.
Nebraska coach Connie Yori didn’t want to bore reporters with the “laundry list” of things her team needs to improve on. “When you don’t know who your opponent is right now, we’re focused on ourselves,” Yori said during her weekly press conference on Tuesday. “We’ve got a lot of things we need to sure up as we head into tournament time, so that’s what we’re trying to do this week.” The No. 3 Cornhuskers, who are the top seed in the Big 12 Conference tournament, spent the week preparing for its quarterfinal game against the winner of the Kansas State-Texas Tech matchup.
KANSAS CITY- There is pressure to win at the bottom, too.That sentiment was shared by Nebraska head coach Doc Sadler following Nebraska’s 70-64 quarterfinal loss to Texas A&M on Thursday. It was number 18 on the season. “Let’s be real, I’ve got to get some wins,” Sadler said. “I’ve got to have a team that doesn’t just play hard. We’ve got to get some wins.”
